Bears and food storage

[gonegary]

I used to camp in CA a lot and they would have bear proof storage bins provided at national park campgrounds.  So I'm wondering about bears and boondocking?  Anyone have bear stories?  I'm thinking of going to Flagstaff area and or Colorado.  I don't know what the bear etiquette or danger is in those areas?
Gary

 

[cyndi]

I was in flagstaff about a month ago, at one of the RTR offshoot camps. No one was concerned about bears. there was food out all over camp.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I have been camping and backpacking in grizzly country for 50+ years.  A few encounters but no problems.  Never lost food, only had black bears in my camp (once in Robson Provincial Park and twice in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area).  If you are careful about food smells you should have no problem.

Talk to the rangers in the area you are going to boondocks in.  They will give you the latest information and best advice.

 -- Spiff

 

[TrainChaser]

It is said that you should hang it from a tree at least a hundred feet?/yards? from camp.

If there is a garbage can or bin in camp, don't park next to it.

Dogs have a sense of smell 70,000 times better than a human. A Bloodhound has the best sense of smell of all dogs. The National Park Service says that a black bear's sense of smell is about SEVEN TIMES as good as a Bloodhound's, and that a black bear's sense of smell can easily be measured in miles. https://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/Bear-Series-Part-One-A-Bears-Sense-of-Smell.htm

If there is a bear around, and he's hungry, he can find your food. Cheerful thought, eh?

 

[highdesertranger]

this rule is not 100% but very close. where bear hunting is legal bears are not much of a problem. where bear hunting is illegal is where you usually have problems. bears loose their fear of humans = bad encounters. now don't all you anti hunters jump my ass I said it's not 100%. but if you do a little research you will get this basic answer. highdesertranger

 

[eDJ_]

Where I've rough camped (boondocks) I carried plastic trash bags and a burlap bag with cord for suspending it over a tree limb.   Soon as I got to camp I'd look for a tree limb to use.   Tie a rock or weigh to the end of the line
so I could throw the rock over the limb which was fairly high above the ground.

The food in question went into the new trash bag and tied up with a twist tie.  That into the burlap which was then tied to the cord. (rock was removed)     When the other end of the cord is pulled to raise the bag to where
the bottom of the bag is about 9 ft above the ground,   that end can be tied fairly high up on another tree. 

I once saw a guy who had a metal trash can lid with a small hole in the center of it.  He put it on his cord and tied a know under it above where he would tie onto the bag of food items.   He called it a squirrel guard.   He said he
only had problems with squirrels once.   I would imagine that if it rained,  it kept the rain off the food bag too.

 

[TrainChaser]

HDR: "... where bear hunting is legal bears are not much of a problem. where bear hunting is illegal is where you usually have problems."

The national parks are proof of that!  OTOH, a lot of the visitors are so stupid they should be shot, too..... (we really need one of those little smiley faces with the horns....)

 

[highdesertranger]

can't disagree with that ^. highdesertranger